Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

If your optimal flow is 2-3 days spurts on mini projects then think of a big project and break it down into these mini-projects. If you can build one power ranger, you can build the mega ranger, just thoughtfully break the tasks into pieces first.

More importantly, you need a topic you are passionate about, and then you can use all your computer knowhow to make tools with that domain as a central focus or backbone. Again, you don't even have to stick with the same toolkit as long as you can break your work into meaningful mini projects.

Celebrate and rejoice when you complete mini projects, and keep your eye on how satisfying it will be to make big projects come perfectly together. If it took many people many days to build the pyramids, it will probably take one person a while to build one. I don't think that's unreasonable, the key is staying motivated. Come to the desert and leave with a pyramid

Edit: for practical tips on keeping some momentum, just start with a tiny amount each day, like just 30-40 minutes after work or before. The next week you can add a little more ect.

If you are just trying to build a portfolio you can come up with a (small) "SMART" goal, and commit to completing it. After you reach the milestone you can make a conscious decision whether to continue or not - but either way you have _something_ completed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria

Just because an idea pops into your brain, doesn’t mean you owe it anything.

Something that may help is picking a smaller project, so small you could do it in a day or two. Build up some endurance over time.

Good luck

So I help with their implementation instead. Instead of building useless tech demos or starting primitive games I'll never finish, I look up the projects I do actually find useful and see what they need help with.

  - Have one private repository for random projects
  - Work in private repositories for random 
    projects that progress.
  - Move to public repositories when the project
    gets somewhere.

I also have general tips on side projects that make them more fun and less like work:

  - Use a different editor/ide to $job.
  - Use a different programming language.

  - Read other peoples solutions on github. Its inspiring.
  - If you get stuck take a break. Its not work and you can slack.

Talking about it tricks your brain into thinking you’ve done the work and you lose motivation.

Sticking to a schedule can help as can ritualizing the process of working on your project: have a certain place you associate with the project or a particular genre of music that gets you excited (it’s important to not listen to that genre/album while doing anything else). These tactics exploit the power of association in our brains to form habits.

Programmers program, writers write, doctors doctor? No doctors work hard most of the week and a bit of the weekends but they do that so they can have other stuff.

My job is Software and IT. It's less about code and more about clear rational decision making. Not thinking about it all the time makes it easier to think about it when it's time to do that work.

Focusing on the problem and the people who feel it will generally engage and inspire you longer. When you ask someone about what's missing in their lives or specifically what emotions they feel in the area you want to work in, they tell you, you offer possible solutions, and they say "when will you finish it, I want to buy it?", that inspiration lasts a long time.

Whom do you want to make your project for? What emotions do they feel that you want to address? Are they bored, frustrated, confused, misunderstood, lonely, etc? Each emotion is different and will lead to different solutions. Ask them so you hear in their words what they want. Ask them to clarify.

The inspiration to help others is deeper and creates meaning and purpose beyond just "I'm going to do something cool everyone will love."

I cover how to make this happen in my book, Initiative http://joshuaspodek.com/initiative based on project-based learning entrepreneurship courses I taught at NYU. If anyone is interested in doing the exercises after reading the reviews and watching the videos but cost is a problem, email me and we'll work something out. I suggest the book because of the results people get from doing the exercises.

There are online tests based on DSM criteria that can show you if it’s worth looking deeper into, such as this one:

https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/adhd-quiz/

Also, think about what you really want to achieve. When you think “I’ll make a roguelike in X!” do you actually want to make something you or other people want to play? Or do you really want to just have a cursory understanding of how a roguelike works? Or to get a slight familiarity with language X? Do the initial research without committing too much to it and see if you maintain interest.

Here’s what worked for me:

1) pick a language (it doesn’t matter, C, python, ocaml) and just start writing small things in it. Do this so much that your inner monologue starts speaking the language, that you have an uncontrollable urge to sit down on Saturday and barf our thousands of lines of bad code in it the way you might write a rambling post on tumblr.

2) understand problem decomposition: practice OOP for the broader application (you don’t need an OO language just use it to break the problem down, write UML if it’s your first couple times) and FP for smaller problems.

3) practice discipline. Clean your room, do your laundry, make your bed, wake up at the same time every morning, go for a walk every day, keep a house plant alive. It’s almost unbelievable how much this discipline with small things can make you more focused and less compulsive.

So one way of going around this is keeping short, simple, achievable-today goals.

Example Target: I need to develop a CMS.

New target: Need to create that one method which will do X and return boolean value.

Once that is done, on to next.